March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Cyril Ramaphosa will take over
management of the economy and implement a 20-year government
plan after being appointed South Africa’s deputy president
following May 7 elections, according to two people familiar with
the plans of the ruling party.

President Jacob Zuma will put Ramaphosa, 61, in charge of
executing the National Development Plan he helped draft, which
aims to create 11 million new jobs in Africa’s biggest economy
by 2030 by loosening restrictions on business and expanding
railways and ports to boost exports, the people said. They asked
not to be identified because the decision has not been made
public.

The planned appointment represents the political comeback
of Ramaphosa after a 16-year foray into business during which he
founded and built a company that now has a net asset value of
8.8 billion rand ($812 million).

In 1982 Ramaphosa co-founded the National Union of
Mineworkers, which became South Africa’s biggest labor group. He
then led the negotiating team for the African National Congress,
or ANC, that ended apartheid, before quitting politics in 1996
for business when he was beaten to the post of deputy president
by Thabo Mbeki, who served under South Africa’s first black
president Nelson Mandela.

The ANC in December 2012 elected Ramaphosa as its deputy
leader as it endorsed Zuma for a second five-year term.

Jobs, Protests

The ANC is set to win the national elections, though polls
suggest its support may drop below 60 percent for the first
time. Zuma faces growing doubt over his leadership because of
his failure to stamp out corruption and bring down a 24 percent
jobless rate. The past year has also seen violent protests over
the delivery of services such as water, and a probe by the
government’s graft ombudsman into state money spent on his
private residence.

Given Ramaphosa’s role as the deputy head of the 26-member
commission which came up with the National Development Plan and
his business experience, his appointment to deputy president
would have a “significant upside,” Barclays Plc researchers
said in a March 6 note.

Business Positive

“Ramaphosa’s inclusion would be positive for business,”
Isaac Matshego, a Johannesburg-based economist with Nedbank
Group Ltd., said in a phone interview yesterday. “This is one
of the architects of our constitution. This is a guy who can get
things done.”

The rand strengthened for a second day, gaining 0.5 percent
to 10.7568 against the dollar at 2:09 p.m. in Johannesburg
trading.

Zuma declined to give details of Ramaphosa’s planned role
in government in a March 6 interview with Bloomberg News.

“It’s not an issue to be discussed now,” Zuma said. “The
ANC takes its own decision on the basis of the reality before
it. This is not the thought of one person, this is thought of
the ANC leadership.”

Keith Khoza, an ANC spokesman, said he was unaware of any
decision on Ramaphosa’s role in government.

“That is something no one can comment on,” Khoza said by
phone yesterday. “At the end of the day that decision is the
prerogative of the president.” Ramaphosa was not available to
comment, Khoza said.

Second Place

Ramaphosa is quitting his position as executive chairman of
his Johannesburg-based Shanduka Group and will probably need to
sell his 29.6 percent stake in the business, James Motlatsi, who
will replace him as chairman, said on Jan. 27. Shanduka holds
stakes in mines owned by Lonmin Plc, mines coal in a venture
with Glencore Xstrata Plc, controls the McDonald’s Corp.
franchise in South Africa and bottles Coca Cola.

Ramaphosa was named in second place behind Zuma on the
ANC’s list of parliamentary candidates, which was submitted to
the Independent Electoral Commission yesterday. Minister of
Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba, Home Affairs Minister Naledi
Pandor and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe were next on the list in
that order.

Even before his appointment, Ramaphosa has been put into
action. This week he traveled to South Sudan, where he is
seeking to help bring an end to the civil war, according to a
government statement.